The devil's cellar

Today I'm back in the Maipo Valley to visit the classic Concha y Toro, one of the oldest wineries in Chile. They are most known in the US for value wines. It was great to see the expansive property and cellars. Their production is over 15 million liters of wine per year. They own several labels around Chile. One of them, Cono Sur, located in the south, won a couple of the Wines of Chile awards last night. They also have a premium wine that they don't export, which is a collaboration with Baron Phillipe de Rothschild in France.

Security is tight at Concha y Toro. In the olden days they had a problem with theft in the original cellar that held the family's wines, so they started a rumor that the cellar was guarded by the devil. After that they didn't notice any more missing bottles - people were very superstitious then. Now they commemorate that story with a line of value wines called Casillero del Diablo, the devil's cellar.

I had a classic empanada for lunch after my tour with a glass of their Terrunyo Carmenere 2006, which was a good complement to this meat pastry. To be frank, I didn't make this visit for the wine but for the history.

Next up - another classic, Santa Rita!